Generating chart titles when generating a chart

[vhogberg]

@dosu
I'm on the 6.1 release and using the generate_chart tool. How can I make it add chart titles to charts automatically?

[dosubot[bot]]

When you call generate_chart without an explicit chart_name, it runs generate_chart_name() to build a descriptive title from the chart's type, metric, and dimension, so no configuration is needed. Examples include "Revenue by Product Category" for a grouped bar chart, Revenue Over Time – Monthly for a time series, or "Income vs Age" for a scatter plot. This naming logic was reworked for clarity and consistency in [1], merged March 2026, so it should be active on the 6.1 release.

To use a specific title instead, pass a chart_name field in your generate_chart request (added in [2]). It takes precedence over the auto-generated name.

If you still see blank or generic titles, check two things. First, make sure you're not passing an empty string for chart_name, which may be treated as an explicit override rather than "unset." Second, confirm that save_chart=True is set, because the dataset lookup that feeds the name generator only runs when the chart is actually being saved.

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[vhogberg]

@dosu I have save_chart=False by design, am I out of luck in that case?

[dosubot[bot]]

Largely, yes, with the current implementation. The auto-naming logic and the chart_name override only run on the path that persists the chart through CreateChartCommand, which is gated behind save_chart=True [1] [2]. With save_chart=False, generate_chart returns form_data and an explore_url/form_data_key for the preview, but that form_data carries no slice_name. The documented preview-mode example shows a response containing only viz_type, x_axis, and metrics [3]. Neither the auto-generated name nor an explicit chart_name gets attached to a preview-only chart.

There are two workarounds that keep save_chart=False. You can type the title in the Explore Save dialog when the chart is eventually saved from the preview link, since this gap doesn't affect that dialog. Or, because a related fix preserves a staged name through the save flow for update_chart previews [4], you can generate the chart first, then call update_chart with generate_preview=False and a chart_name to rename it before or at save time. That keeps the preview-first workflow and still produces a named chart.

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[vhogberg]

@dosu

If I'd want this flow:

1. Ask the agent for a chart, specifying what it should show and a name.
2. Agent generates the chart unsaved via an explore link, it has a name in explore.
   3a. I make changes in explore, adding chart axis titles.
   3b. I'm happy, I make no chagnes.
3. I ask the agent to save the chart (with or without my added changes based on option 3.)

What tools would I use?

[dosubot[bot]]

The flow uses generate_chart and update_chart_preview, with a second generate_chart call to save.

1. Call generate_chart with your dataset, chart config, a chart_name, and save_chart=False. It returns an explore_url backed by a cached form_data_key, which lets Explore open the unsaved chart without a database row [1] [2].

2. Open that link. It's the same unsaved preview in both 3a and 3b.

3a. No tool in the agent's toolset reads back edits you make by hand in Explore. The MCP tools only know what was passed to them (or to update_chart_preview), not what you click or type in the UI afterward. If you add axis titles directly in Explore, click Explore's own Save button there. That persists exactly what you edited, name included [3]. To stay in chat instead, skip editing in Explore and tell the agent the axis-title change. It calls update_chart_preview with the form_data_key and the updated config, which returns a new preview and form_data_key for you to review [4] [5].

3b. No changes are needed, so go straight to step 4.

4. To save from chat (after 3b, or after iterating with update_chart_preview in the chat-driven 3a variant), ask the agent to persist the chart. It calls generate_chart again with save_chart=True and the same (or updated) config and chart_name, which creates the saved chart row [1] [2]. This creates a new chart rather than converting the original preview into a saved record, because previews are cached form data with no database identity.

update_chart only works once a chart has an identifier, meaning after it's saved, so it isn't part of this pre-save flow [6].

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